But no worries! There is a reason why the detail-oriented accountants at the Pentagon are so good at working with numbers when calculating the astronomical cost of the illegal air war in Iraq and Syria: Saudi Arabia is paying the bill.
It’s all the reason why the political class in Washington are in no hurry to wrap up the “ineffective air campaign” against Obama-designed proxy forces any time soon: Secretary of State John Kerry says, “Washington’s military campaign against ISIL will take years and will stop only when the terrorist group is incapacitated.”
Dancing to the same tune, President Barack Obama says, “The US military will expand its bombing campaign against ISIL terrorists. The offensive is not going to be a brief one and will take years to end.”
On the other end of the equation, there is also a very good reason why Obama repeatedly says his newest war will not include US ground troops: According to official Washington, for every one of the 866,181 soldiers officially counted injured casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan, the government is expected to spend some $2 million in long-term medical cost.
The $2 million per casualty figure does serve as a stark reminder of how the US and its veterans will be suffering if official Washington makes the choice to have new boots on the ground in Iraq and Syria. But again no worries: If at the end of the “LONG WAR” Saudi Arabia is not yet bankrupt and has some petro-dollar cash left to pay the bill for injured veterans in long-term medical cost and/or for veterans’ benefits, boots on the ground will be on the menu too.
History tells us that financial commitment to a war does not end with troop withdrawal or end of the war. Soldiers might be leaving, but they are taking with them injuries that will take years to treat. In many cases, they will be dealing with them for the rest of their lives.
History also tells us that the previous wars on Afghanistan and Iraq – which were based on lies and paid for by American taxpayers – ended with a beaten and bankrupt America! No wonder the political class in Washington is not paying for the newest war – they have no money!
In their foolish agenda for regime change in Damascus AND Baghdad, the House of Saud does not have a clue what awaits them: They will gain nothing: America was far bigger and far richer than Saudi Arabia but still got defeated and went bankrupt on the back of two illegal wars. There is no reason to think why this time it will be any different and that the newest war – under the pretext of fighting ISIL – will succeed and will not end with an insolvent Saudi Arabia?
In any case, the Big Picture remains the same: Total defeat and bankruptcy. The officials at the department of Pentagon see it – they have learned a lesson or two from their earlier excessive wars on Iraq and Afghanistan. But they don’t give a damn: Saudi Arabia AND its pathetic club (Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain) are paying the price and the astronomical bills for America’s “LONG WAR” of air raids, precision-guided bombs, laser spotters, Tomahawk and Hellfire missiles, and maybe, just maybe, injured American veterans, war widows and orphans.
